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e.shadowsong's blog

For those who don't know me as well as others: I talk about supernatural and spiritual things a lot, and I use my preferred language to do so. That does not mean I expect everyone to accept what I say, agree, or believe the same things. I am perfectly comfortable with multiple ways of looking with the world.

Okay, I don't consider myself in a position to preach. I really don't. I just know what *I* strongly believe and that's it...and I listen to others. So, this week, I'm in charge of the service and the topic of the month is "risk."

I just saw a colleague post about reminding a man not to refer to his female assistant (?) as a "girl." And I'm sure this was completely unintentional and there's nothing at all wrong with him and he probably, hopefully, appreciated having his attention brought to this. My colleague, understandably, felt a little embarrassed.

Gratitude to Marisol Caballero for introducing me to the term "Afro-Latina." (Yeah, I probably should have known it, but I didn't.) I think this year I'm going to resolve to RECLAIM that identity. Usually, when I see things like this in the news about Latinx, I feel like it's not about me...and that if I try to connect with it, that says something bad about me. But THIS article does not feel this way. It feels right in my blood. I know for a fact that we had "brujas" in my family, and that's what they were called.

Or rather, has rested, a much deserved rest after a difficult life. This is my goodbye; the piece I wanted to write months ago.

She raised me as a little girl, until about the age of seven when we moved. I was born in Boston and I remember my funny, little grandma always being there. She would talk in Spanish and taught me some songs, and it used to make her laugh to have me sing them...badly. She was feisty. Once, she jumped off of a piano bench to prove that she still could; I had been trying to describe to her the difference between flying and gliding.

I’ve been drawn to Saturn lately, as I incorporate working with the planets into my regular spiritual practices, and into the relationships I am building in the spirit realms. I feel an odd fondness, almost warmth, toward Saturn right now. I am not totally sure why, but I do know I find some kind of satisfaction in resolving feelings of apprehension into genuine appreciation, when it comes to spirits, deities or energies that are typically feared or dreaded. I guess it’s a little like making friends with the monster under your bed.

I recently had the opportunity to attend an interfaith conference of religious educators. Most of this group consisted of followers of Judaism and the largest denominations of Christianity. They had only just begun to make connections with Buddhists and Muslims, and I supposed they would probably need time to get used to broadening the tent before being asked to encounter too much of the unfamiliar. But sometimes things don’t work that way.

I was not, for example, only there as a Unitarian Universalist professional; I was there as a pagan, for which I was not sure they were prepared. And yet, when I was asked to name two things of which I thought others might have “holy envy” about my religion, I wanted to tell them. After a few people took their turn, I finally had an opportunity to share what my experience of paganism meant to me.

I’m a storyteller and Unitarian Universalist religious education professional. I’m spiritually a pagan, and I have also been a Christian. I’m a singer and musician, writer and artist, and I use the word “artist” as Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way uses it, to denote a sense of spiritual path, not simply a profession or activity. I am every inch an artist, and in college, I was a student of folklore.